Chapter 13
Each one of them had a way of waiting for time to pass. The tokubetsu jounin adjusted his shades for what felt like the thirtieth time that morning whilst the young girl played with one of her large orange pigtails on the soft and lush grass. The genin with short spiky hair, on the other hand, stood impatiently with his his arms crossed, an annoyed expression upon his face. Not finding anything else to do, he decided to complain once more.
"Where the hell is this guy? He should've been here hours ago!"
"A ninja should be more patient than that Konohamaru-kun!" The elite instructor reprimanded the young Sarutobi. "Kakashi-senpai will get here when he gets here."
"But Konohamaru-kun has a point Ebisu-sensei," a tired Moegi protested, "it's almost lunch time and he still hasn't arrived."
Konohamaru grimaced, his stomach grumbling at his teammate's mention of lunch. The elite jounin muttered something under his breath about the copy ninja's terrible punctuality, starting to agree with both of his students. Yet, for the sake of mantaining discipline, Ebisu remained quiet, not giving in to their complaints. The black-haired adult glanced to his side and saw the last member of their team sweetly taking a nap under one of the trees' cool shades. It seemed that Udon was the one with the brightest idea to kill time.
"You know what? I'm tired of waiting for this jerk, I'm off to go grab some lunch." Konohamaru declared.
"Oh no sir, you're not going anywhere." Ebisu put his hands on his hips, as if to impose some sort of authority over him.
"Of course I am, it's obvious this guy ain't coming."
"This undiscipline will land you a spot back in the Ninja Academy if you're not careful." The teacher threatened. Yet it all seemed to fall on deaf ears as the boy simply ignored him and turned to his other awaken teamate.
"What do you say Moegi?"
The girl blushed despite her naturally rosy cheeks. "Uhm... I don't really wanna get involved in this Konohamaru-kun."
"Your loss." Konohamaru shrugged. But before he could walk out of the site, a firm grip enveloped itself around his long blue scarf. "What the-"
"I told you already that you are not going anywhere!" Ebisu exclaimed. The young genin struggling to break free in response.
"Let me go you closet pervert!" He insulted.
The boy kept fighting, but the jounin did not relent. Veins popping around his temples, not amused at all by the way he was adressed. "I swear on the memory of the sandaime that-"
"Yo." They both stopped as a tall silver-haired stranger made his presence known to them. The genin trio noticed that he wore the common Leaf jounin uniform same as their sensei, and, quite strangely, a mask that concealed half of his face. That, coupled with the way he wore his protector, effectively left only his right eye uncovered. Could this guy really be the 'elite jounin' that their sensei kept prattling on about? "Sorry I was a little late."
A little? Moegi dropped a sweat as Konohamaru was too busy with freeing himself from Ebisu's grasp and being utterly disappointed that that was the guy they had been waiting for all morning. The black-haired jounin gulped and tried to regain his composure. As if finally noticing the little commotion, Udon slowly woke up, yawning.
"It's you Kakashi-senpai!" Ebisu exclaimed. "Everyone, into formation like I told you!" He ordered, turning to his three subordinates. Quickly, they all stood straight side by side in response. The annoyed expression on Konohamaru's face still not leaving him.
"I believe these are the genin that Lady Tsunade told me about?" The Hatake inquired, glancing over to the trio.
"Precisely. I've trained them to the best of my ability so far and saw them become the most exemplary genin this village has to offer." Ebisu stated with a proud grin and puffed up chest. Way to exaggerate. It was Kakashi's turn to drop a sweat and raise an eyebrow. Turning to one of the children, the shade-wearing jounin began to indicate. "This is Moe-"
"If you don't mind Ebisu, I'd rather test them first before they presented themselves." The copy ninja interrupted.
"Oh... yes, yes, of course." He replied a bit disconcerted.
Kakashi stopped in front of the three children and started to search for something in his pocket. He interrupted himself however, as he noticed that the other jounin still lingered there like a concerned mother. The copy ninja scratched the back of his head, not quite sure what to do. Aware of the awkward situation, he could only wonder how Sakura managed to convince him to come here.
"Uhm, I think I'll take it from here." He told him, trying to be as gentle as possible.
"A-alright." The instructor responded as if realizing just then that he might have stayed there too long. Turning towards his star students and with emotional tears flowing under his shades, Ebisu declared. "Show Kakashi-senpai what you are made of!"
"Hai!" The trio replied in unison before he shunshined out of their view.
Kakashi sighed. Lady Tsunade sure knew how to give him the most interesting of assignm-
"So what is this test you are talking about?" The impatient scarf-wearing boy inquired, interrupting his thoughts.
As if remembering what it was that he was looking for, the jounin produced a small pair of bells, a faint jingle coming from them.
"Quite simple. You'll have until the end of this afternoon to get these bells from me." He began explaining. "If you fail... well, I guess you three are going to need some more time at the Academy."
"WHAT!?" They all exclaimed.
"Screw you, I worked really hard to get here. I'm not letting some old masked dude with no goddamn sense of time ruin it all!" The spiky-haired kid protested in outrage.
"Old?" Kakashi replied a bit amused. This one seemed to be as loud as Naruto, he wasn't sure if he should chuckle at the resemblance.
"Uhm... Kakashi-san?" The boy with a droopy face and large round glasses raised his hand.
"Yes?"
"If we three are supposed to get these bells from you, then why are there only two?" He asked, pointing to the small metallic thing hanging from the jounin's grasp.
A cruel smile formed underneath his mask, this was one of his favorite parts. "Oh, that's because one of you is not going to pass this test."
"WHAT!?"
"Clock's ticking." He teased before disappearing from their view.
***XIII***
Ebisu had to admit that he was a bit lost. Keeping one foot in front of the order, the village around him went on with its normal business. An incense peddler shouted his offers for all on the street to hear, customers went in and out of Amaguriama's whilst some others carried paper bags filled with candy and sweets from the nearby sweet shop. The bustling of the village as vibrant as ever.
They'd normally be doing some D-rank mission at this hour. He swore he could almost hear Konohamaru's nagging for something more exciting whilst Moegi would blush at his loudness and Udon sneakily attempted to take a nap. He was surprised by how those three managed to grow on him since the late sandaime had ordered him to train their little team.
The day that Lady Tsunade had suggested that Kakashi took over his team, he had the urge to protest. Yet Ebisu knew that this would be a great opportunity for them. Learning from the legendary copy ninja himself. Although, he was a bit concerned about the Hatake's usual more 'unconventional' flaws such as the one demonstrated earlier. Not to mention the fact that no genin team assigned to him had ever passed his test. Well, with the exception of that one from a couple of years ago.
A shiver ran down his spine as he recalled the tragic fate that befell them.
The jounin pushed up his sunglasses with his index. Better not to dwell too much on that.
The sound of his sandals against the pavement was deafened by the crowd of people around him as he came to a sudden halt. His brows furrowed, a realization slowly sinking in.
It was something he had been wondering about. The reason why the Hokage had decided to assign his team in particular to the Sharingan user. His mouth curled into a smile. It was most certainly the same reason why the sandaime had decided to give his grandson a tutor. Like the late Sarutobi, Lady Tsunade likely also had faith in them. He couldn't actually believe that he was proud of the great ninja that they were becomi-
"LOOK OUT!" Ebisu felt someone tumbling down on him before he could properly register the young woman's voice.
Picking up his shades and putting them back on, the shinobi turned his look to the person who had so carelessly bumped onto him. Whilst the young woman tried getting back up, the elite instructor noticed the familiarity of that short-black hair and oversized uniform. The Hokage's assistant.
"Are you alrigh-"
"Terribly sorry," Shizune quickly interrupted him, "but I have an urgent message to deliver to Hokage-sama. Bye!"
And with that, she sped past him, jumping from rooftop to rooftop towards the Kage's building. Ebisu frowned, how rude. But before he could continue to dwell on it any further, his eyes widened and jaw dropped as he spotted the latest edition of the Icha Icha manga on a nearby stand. He regained his composure and looked both ways to make sure no one was watching. Adjusting his sunglasses, he supposed that, especially now that he had no genin pestering him, he could indulge in some of his more 'adult' tastes.
***XIII***
He turned another page of the orange book as he calmly stood on the middle of the clearing. His only surprise was that it took that long for them to find him. The sudden rustling of leaves behind, a scarf-wearing ninja leapt out towards him, trying to go for the bells tied to his waist. Such an obvious attack. Without interrupting his reading, Kakashi simply sidestepped the genin's charge and turned a page as the boy clumsily tripped over a rock. The kid gnarled at him but did not seem to have given up. The young shinobi, covered with some smudges of dirt and grass now, swiftly got up and pointed a finger at the copy ninja.
"I'm gonna wipe that smug look off your face when I kick your ass!"
Kakashi lowered his little book and raised an eyebrow at his threat, did the mask that covered more than half his face make him look smug?
His thoughts were interrupted as the boy tried attacking again, launching a flurry of punches. Still with his novel in hand, the jounin dodged the first two with certain ease and decided to use his superior height to his advantage, simply keeping the little loudmouth out of his reach with his arm.
"I'll get you!" Kakashi heard him grunt as he still tried to hit his waist. The silver-haired ninja slightly turned his head and then rapidly dodged downwards as a flying roundhouse kick passed above him. It was the one with glasses. The Hatake wondered, that meant that there was still the other gi-
The shinobi quickly pushed the spikehead kid back with force and, by putting his fingers through the holes, catched the two shuriken meant for him just as fast. Intentionally aiming a bit above his mark, he threw them back. A girly squeak came out from the bushes as two short thuds against a tree followed. Kakashi turned his look to the boys. The one with glasses was helping the one with the scarf back up whilst, from the corner of his uncovered eye, he saw the girl crawl out of the bushes towards them with a terrified expression on her face. Was that the closest she'd ever come to death?
The veteran ninja chuckled. It seemed that they had some basic coordination as a team, much better than what his previous pupils had at that stage. However, "you guys will have to do much more than that if you don't want to go back to the academy."
The girl and the boy with the droopy face didn't seem very encouraged by his statement. But the last of the three, strangely, only seemed to get more determined.
"He's too strong, we can't beat him like that." The girl said insecurely, earning a glare from her spiky-haired teammate which made her avoid his eyes. Interested by the exchange, Kakashi decided to wait and watch how they were going to react to the situation instead of just attacking them.
"Moegi-chan is right Konohamaru, he is too much for us head on." The boy with glasses supported his female teammate.
"Are you guys seriously telling me you want to quit?" The child, apparently called Konohamaru, replied, frustration clear in his tone.
"No, it's not like that." The genin continued. "I just don't think we are going to be sucessful by charging him this way, but I think I got a plan for that." He concluded, adjusting his big round glasses. The Konohamaru kid seemed to relent, as he nodded in what looked like agreement, he turned to the rosy-cheeked girl and she nodded as well.
Interesting, Kakashi thought. Not only he managed to properly analyze the situation, but was also apparently able to come up with some sort of plan. A small smile started to form on the copy ninja's lips, he would certainly have to keep an eye out for this one. But before he could make any other observation, the kid with a scarf, to Kakashi's surprise, made a hand seal that was all too familiar to him.
"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" The young ninja exclaimed, four copies of himself appearing in a puff of smoke alongside him. The older shinobi wondered where he could have learned such a jutsu, the memory of when he tested Naruto coming to mind.
The brown-haired clones proceeded to charge towards him, two of them already leaping into the air. Kakashi hopped back out of their reach as the other two Konohamarus continued to chase him down. The one to his right uselessly tried launching a punch which the Hatake easily intercepted with his right hand. The clone grunted in pain as the silver-haired veteran twisted its arm clockwise. As if to quickly finish him off, the masked man swept the clone off its feet, the young boy's copy disappearing in a cloud of smoke as it landed on the ground.
One down, three to go.
While being careful not to lose the page he was on, Kakashi blocked a roundhouse kick aimed at his ribs with his shin followed by a right cross that he expertly managed to block as well. Sensing that his opponent might counterattack, the clone tried to create some distance. But to its absolute terror, the jounin managed to grab the end of its scarf, launching the poor thing against his brother that was trying to advance, two puffs of smoke confirming their demise.
The tall shinobi turned back, facing the last of the genin's clones. He caught a brief glimpse of hesitation on its face. As if bracing itself, the clone charged forward. As he'd done with the original before, Kakashi used his height to stop it by holding back its head. This time however, the jounin was less merciful, smashing the clone's head against the ground in an almost brutal manner, the chakra replica disappearing instantly the same way as his other counterparts.
Kakashi briefly looked around him. No sign of them. This was likely a distraction to cover their escape. "Quite smart." He remarked aloud.
Surely, they'd be back to try again. He couldn't help but be curious what they had in mind.
Bored with that small clearing, Kakashi calmly walked out of there, searching for another spot where he could resume his reading in peace.
***XIII***
She could only imagine how smooth the glass would feel under her touch, how satisfying the cork's pop would sound to her ears and how savory the clear liquid would taste on her tongue. It took an enormous effort for the female Hokage not to grab the bottle of sake that she kept on the left drawer. Half of her attention was directed to such a task, while the other half was with reading Ibiki's report on some rogue ninja he'd been interrogating. Nothing too useful or remarkable there. According to the document, they were messengers. But what message they were delivering, to whom and on behalf of whom, not even they knew.
Couldn't it at least be a little bit more exciting? Like something about the Akatsuki, or any sort of information from inside the Sound. She supposed she should be thankful though, at least it was still not time for the annual revision of the village's finances. A chill was sent down her spine as she could already imagine the dreadful boredom of looking at hundreds if not thousands of numbers. Grabbing a piece of scroll, the sannin began to draft an order to increase patrols in response to these rogue ninja sightings.
"Deliver this to the headquarters." She handed the document to the jounin that obediently stood in front of her desk.
"As you command Lady Tsunade!" An alert Raidou promptly replied, shunshining out of her office the moment he got the scroll.
The blonde fell back on her chair, sighing in relief. Finally, some time alone. A devious smile crept up her face as she opened the left drawer of her desk, the clink of a glass bottle accompanying the drawer's movement.
"There you are my dear." She happily spoke to the bottle as she grabbed it, the smooth glass being a nice contrast to the rough paper she had to endure all morning.
Pop!
It responded when she uncorked it. Like music to her ears.
Tsunade put her lips around around it and was ready to send the beverage down her throat. However, to her absolute terror, her ears picked up the sound of the door before she could down any of the drink. The situation was only made worse when the woman recognized the two elders that approached her. She quickly tried to hide her precious, to no avail however.
"A Hokage shouldn't be drinking while at work." The elder lady began her reprimand. "Also, shouldn't you dress more appropriately as a woman beffiting of your position?" She referred to the large cleavage that the Senju unapologetically liked to display.
Like you'd do the same if you also had something to show you dry old bat. Tsunade replied mentally. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" The kunoichi tried to keep the sarcasm out of her voice as best as she could.
The other elder furrowed his brows just slightly. "Have you forgotten? Today is the annual revision of the village's finances."
Shit. On a stick.
"Yet there's something else we would also like to discuss." He continued.
Tsunade could only hope that it wouldn't be as boring as the financial revision was going to be. Making herself more comfortable on her chair, she replied. "Which is?"
"It has recently come to our attention that you've decided to assign a new team of genin to Kakashi Hatake, the one with sandaime's grandson." Koharu, the woman with her hair pulled back in a twin bun, stated.
"I have indeed, what's the matter?" The blonde sannin answered with a neutral tone.
"Surely a ninja of his capabilities would be best suited for more important tasks than to watch over a couple of children." Homura, the other elder, sugested.
"These children are the future generation of the Leaf ninja. Surely, you wouldn't imply that they shouldn't be trained to meet this standard." The Hokage shot back at him, almost indulging herself on her own sass. Needless to say that the old man did not apreciate that, his expression clearly showing.
Yet the other hag in the room had something to say about that. "Training that was already being supervised by one Ebisu, no? It was even Hiruzen himself who had appointed him as his grandson's tutor. It would be disrespectful to his memory to interfere-"
"Do not presume for a second that I am not aware of what Sarutobi-sensei had in mind for his grandson. Even when I was gone I knew him better than the two of you know about spending time arguing with me about my decisions." Tsunade fiercely replied, using her authority as Hokage like a club on their heads for questioning her. "If Kakashi doesn't find them worthy of his time, he can always send them back to the Academy. Now this will be the last that we discuss about this subject, are we understood?" She concluded, their silence as the only reply to her verdict. Good enough, she supposed.
"Very well," the godaime resumed, "shall we star-"
"Lady Tsunade!" The blonde was interrupted as another woman barged into her office. She was visibly exausted, catching her breath as she leaned against the doorframe. Like the elder councillors, the Senju also wanted to know what in the hell was the meaning of that interruption.
"What is the matter Shizune?" She asked her apprentice.
"I'm terribly sorry milady, but I wouldn't interrupt you if this wasn't so important." The young petite told her between breaths.
"What is so important? Spit it out already." She ordered impatiently.
"A report from one of our sentries." Locking her eyes directly onto her master's, the small woman began. "They are back."
***XIII***
Kakashi slowly lowered his book, the image of the girl with large pigtails standing in front of him. He briefly looked around but saw no sign of the rest of them. The jounin was a little confused. Was sending her by herself their plan?
"You don't honestly think that you're capable of taking me on alone, do you?" He asked without leaving the rock that he was resting on. The girl gave him no response, and didn't seem to be affected by him either. Shaking his head, the shinobi sighed as he got up. "Mind telling me where your buddies are?"
"I'm not telling you anything." She replied resolutely. The confidence in her tone sparked some curiosity in the Hatake. The faintest hint of a smile started to form on his lips, perhaps he should test her a little bit.
"You do realize that only two of you will pass, right?" He began. "Even if you somehow manage to grab the bells, who said that they are going to give you one?"
Kakashi half-expected her to waver. This was usually the line that he used against the many genin that he sent back to the academy. However, her response was what surprised him in turn.
"I don't care if I don't pass, I'm not about to let my friends down!"
"Really?" He couldn't help but wonder out loud. The determination with which she said it astonishing him. She seemed to be completely different from the squeaking and insecure little girl from earlier. It somewhat reminded him of Sakura when she was herself confident about something. The young kunoichi readied herself, taking a kunai from the small pouch strapped to her right thigh. This was about to get interesting.
Letting out a fierce battlecry (as fierce as a 12 year old girl could let out), she charged towards him. Becoming strong enough to strike.
The child made a stabbing motion when she got right in front of the copy ninja. After he dodged it with ease, the kunoichi used the momentum of her strike to attempt a wild slash across his chest. Kakashi stepped back, the pointy end of the weapon missing its mark by mere inches. The girl continued with her flurry of attacks, keeping him on his backfoot. The masked veteran split his attention between dodging, blocking the kunai with the steel plate of his gloves and his reading. Even when it was apparent that he wasn't putting much effort into their fight, the genin did not let up her ferocity.
She stepped up her agression, attacking him from multiple angles. He saw her duck and go for a sweep in a single motion, which he responded by simply raising his leg and stepping back. In a quick sucession, she propelled herself onto the air, spinning over her own axis, her kunai directed towards his chest in a downwards stabbing motion. Kakashi confidently stopped her by grabbing a hold of her wrist before she could strike him.
"A little girl like you should be more careful with knives." He provoked as she struggled to break free from his grasp. But in spite of that, Kakashi could swear that he saw a faint smile forming on her face. Now was the time for their plan to reveal itself. She jumped with both her feet and tried to kick him. The masked shinobi didn't want to drop his book, choosing to let go of her wrist and blocking her strike with the same arm instead.
"Udon, now!" The girl yelled as she boosted herself off his arm and landed on a safe distance. Kakashi snapped his head back and saw the boy with the droopy face performing hand seals quickly.
"Ninpou: Tsuchi no popi!" The genin exclaimed, small cracks on the ground spreading fast towards the Hatake. He watched as small yellowish poppies sprung from them, covering the space where he was standing on in a flowery carpet. A gas of the same color started to emanate from the very same cracks from which the flowers grew soon after.
Sleeping gas? A voice inside his head inquired as he recognized the boy's jutsu. Kakashi began to retreat fast, one sniff of that gas and it was over.
But to make matters more complicated however, the girl started throwing kunais and shurikens at him, forcing the copy ninja to remain smart and quick on his feet. The cracks and flowers followed him wherever he stepped, the fatal yellow gas coming after him. As he ducked, avoiding a kunai aimed for his head, Kakashi quickly realized that she was trying to force him into her friend's trap. He created a greater distance between them, somersaulting back and, to his annoyance, losing the page that he was on. This was going to be the least of his problems.
"Doton: Doryuuheki!" That couldn't be...
He watched in terror as the last member of the trio made his appearence, spitting a torrent of mud which quickly solidified into a wall in front of him. Kakashi couldn't do anything but get both his feet stuck on the rapidly solidifying material instead of landing safely on the ground. He quickly turned his look towards the gas that was coming for him fast. Not good.
There was no choice, he'd have to use both his hands for this one. Right after hurriedly stuffing the small orange book in his pouch, Kakashi started to concentrate his chakra whilst performing various hand seals with lightning speed.
"Doton: Rikujou douyou no jutsu." He said as he stuck his fingertips on the mud wall. Not a second after, tremors began to emanate from where he stuck them, growing so strong to the point of making the wall crumble down just like the optimism on the genin's faces. Kakashi felt the pull of gravity as he finally managed to free himself, propelling himself back to safety with the dangerous gas reaching mere centimeters from his face. He let himself breathe a sigh of relief.
"Damnit," the jounin heard the Konohamaru kid curse before exclaiming, "I ain't done with you yet! Kage bushin no jutsu!"
Sure enough, a bunch of copies of the boy materialized into existence and proceeded to attack him. But to the child's unpleasant surprise, if the copy ninja was already hard to fight against when he used only one arm, when he used two, it was damn near impossible. His clones barely had a chance to register as the veteran brought each of them down with extreme ferocity. Two of them tried to get a jump on the tall masked man but failed as he hit them both simultaneously with a spinning double kick, both disappearing in a cloud of smoke. The few remaining clones produced a kunai each and tried throwing at him to which the jounin blocked with a kunai of his own in response, the last one ricocheting off of the steel plate on his gloves when he brought it to protect his face.
A brief second passed as they both analyzed each other. Grunting with impatience, the kid and his clones resumed their agression, all of them charging forward at the same time. Kakashi threw the kunai that he was holding at one of them, hitting it on its chest before that too turned into smoke. He blocked the incoming flurry of attacks pulling one's arm and hitting it with his knee and kicking another on its face until only the original remained.
The genin breathed heavily, visibly exhausted from the physical effort that was mantaining that aggression. He attacked head on again, trying to land a kick that the jounin easily dodged. The child tried to follow up with a punch, but, again, the older shinobi sidestepped his strike and let the boy's own momentum work against him. Kakashi used the kid's long scarf to his advantage once again, pulling him into a kick that would send him rolling away on the rough ground.
"Konohamaru-kun!" The masked shinobi heard the girl cry as she jumped to the spikehead's side, trying to help him up. The boy with glasses followed by landing in front of them, a kunai in hand as if to protect her and his injured friend.
"Crap, it didn't work." He muttered, panting likely due to the amount of chakra he spent on that jutsu.
"Nothing we try seems to work on this guy, what are we going to do?" The girl spoke, defeat in her voice.
Meanwhile, the boy with the long blue scarf seemed to get his breathing under control, a tenacious look on his face. "Guys," he began with a serious tone as he regained his composure, "I think it's time that we use the Konohamaru Ninja Squad special attack."
The jounin raised an eyebrow. Konohamaru Ninja Squad special attack?
"You're not seriously suggesting that we use this attack on him are you Konohamaru-kun?" The genin with large pigtails asked him desperately.
"Ye-yeah, everytime we use this attack we get into a lot of trouble." The other kid seemed to agree with his female teammate.
Trouble? Just what the hell were they talking about? Kakashi wondered.
"It's either that or being sent back to the Academy." The Konohamaru kid countered. They all stood in silence for a brief moment, as if considering whether they should go along with the boy's plan or not.
"A-alright then, I'm ready to take the chance." The girl finally decided.
The young spikehead turned to the remaining member of the trio, to which he responded with a silent nod of his head. "Okay. You guys prepare yourselves," he told them, "now scatter!"
Each one of them split up in a blur of speed towards the trees, leaving the masked jounin wondering what sort of maneuver they were talking about, and why would they get into trouble for it.
***XIII***
Ino was getting tired of searching for them. Lady Tsunade had told her that they'd be there by now. Yet, unbeknownst to her, the two figures she was looking for moved through the village's main street calmly. That is, until the younger one became too eager and ran up a pole, even letting his backpack fall on the ground.
"Getting excited already?" The other one accompanying him said. He didn't even seem to listen.
As he landed on top of the platform, he opened his arms and let himself feel the gentle breeze ruffle his hair. He looked at the vast amount of buildings around him, recalling each one of them, and of course, the stone faces on the mountain on the distance.
"Man, this brings back memories. This place hasn't changed at all!" He declared, glad everything had stayed the same. As if to announce himself to the village, the young shinobi projected his voice with confidence.
"Everyone, Naruto Uzumaki is back in town!"